Florida Tax Collector To Accept Cryptocurrency Payments

Seminole County, Florida will soon accept cryptocurrency payments for various services. In an announcement made on Monday, Seminole County tax collector Joel Greenberg said the county will begin accepting bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash to pay for services, including property tax, driver licenses and ID card fee, and tags and titles, all starting this summer.

“We live in a world where technology has made access to services on demand, with same-day delivery and the expectation of highly efficient customer service, and we should expect the same from our government,” Greenberg said. “The aim of my tenure in office is to make our customer experience faster, smarter, and more efficient, and to bring government services from the 18th century into the 21st century, and one way is the addition of cryptocurrency to our payment options.”

The county partnered with blockchain payments company BitPay to process cryptocurrency payments. Under terms of the deal, taxpayers would pay BitPay in cryptocurrency through the tax collector’s website, then BitPay would compensate Greenberg’s office in cash. BitPay keeps a 1 percent fee.

Jeremie Beaudry, head of compliance at BitPay, said that Greenberg’s office is the first government agency to use BitPay to process services.

“BitPay was started because we recognized the potential for blockchain to revolutionize the financial industry, making payments faster, more secure, and less expensive on a global scale,” said Beaudry. “With the Seminole County Tax Collector’s office, we have engaged our first government agency to accept bitcoin and bitcoin cash by making it easy and seamless for them.”

Since taking office as tax collector in January 2017, Greenberg has directed the office to introduce new technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), improve infrastructures, and streamline and improve customer service. Greenberg’s new modernization plan includes the adoption of blockchain technology.